Garment



Patented Mar, 23, 1937 Ares PATENT oi-FE 2,074,975 GARMENT Application December 5, 1936, Serial No. 114,471y

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-43) This invention relates to a garment and more particularly to a womans undergarment of the type which is characterized by its form-fitting or body confining qualities.

5 My invention, however, is not limited to undergarments of. the form-fitting or body confining type, although its advantages are particularly evident in such application thereof, but is 'equally applicable to undergarments of any foundation character.

An object ofy the invention is to provide an undergarment of the general type described and having an elastic girdle or body encircling portion, with an insert detachably secured thereto to form a crotch element. Such crotch element may be readily removed for the purpose of laundering and may be replaced with another crotch element of the same design and configuration when the original crotch element has become soiled or excessively moist, as during participation by the wearer in recreational activities, for instance, in athletic games, inducing excessive perspiration.

I am aware of the fact that undergarments including a body encircling portion, commonly referred to as a girdle, have been heretofore provided with removable crotch pieces7 but such structures have failed utterly to solve the problem, due to certain shortcomings and limitations attendant upon their particular forms and the manner of securements of the crotch elements to the body of the girdle.

One such prior art structure of -which I am aware, utilizes a detachable crotch piece including an elastic tape along the sides of the cut-out 35 crotch, with the girdle provided with lselvage edges and the crotch piece with selvage edges adapted to form a continuation of the girdle salvage.

Such a. garment, with a slit in the middle of 40 the lower margin of the girdle, into which the crotch piece is adapted to be inserted, is characterized by certain disadvantages among which may be mentioned the fact that it provides no limit to the amount of lateral stretch, so that the g5 entire garment loses its conforming function at the portions thereof, namely its lower extremities, where such conforming function is of the greatest importance; that the weakest point of the garment is at the juncture of the insert with the ma- 50 terial; that during the ordinary movements, as

in walking or in any activity involving bodily motion, the crotch piece tends to move upwardly; `that the crotch is visible, or at least gives evidence of its presence, through a dress; and that the 55 girdle cannot be worn without the crotch piece.

In contradistinction to the above outlined disadvantages, the structure of my novel undergarment is such that the girdle can be worn with or without the crotch element, the girdle being a complete garment without the crotch element; 5 the presence of the crotch element is not evident from the outside, as it is sewn and secured entirely on the inside of the garment; the strain in the conforming function, as well as during removal or attachment of the crotch element, is 10 on the girdle proper; restraint on the girdle is of the magnitudedesigned for the particular girdle, as no expansion of the girdle at the crotch portion is permitted, to the unusual degree necessarilypresent with a slit girdle; and the material 15 in contact with the skin of the wearer is smooth and soft, eliminating the cutting, binding and bruising attendant upon a stily selvaged crotch piece. Furthermore, by providing a detachable crotch element that is secured to a complete girdle, the portions of the garment, even when not provided with garters, cannot ride up during the most active movements indulged in by the wearer.

My invention is illustrated as applied to a garment of the girdle type in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a front view of an undergarrnent in the construction of which my invention has been embodied; K

Fig. 2 shows the garment in position encircling the body of the wearer;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of. the crotch element in hat condition to show its outline; and

Fig. 4 is a view of the inside portion of the gar- 35 ment showing the fastening means for securing the crotch element to the garment.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in which similar reference characters identify similar parts in the several views, 5 is a garment, a 40 girdle made of elastic material in the instance illustrated, complete in structure and contour, to the inner portions of which, both at the front and rear sections thereof and constituting the portions disposed centrally of the lower parts of the sections, are secured pairs of tapes 6 and 'l carrying, by having enclosed therein in wellknown fashion, the female elements 8 of a snap fastener structure, the tapes 6 and l being disposed so as to form an inverted V, starting at the selvage edge of the girdle some inches apart and extending upwardly so as to converge toward the apex of the inverted V.

At such apex, a separate piece of tape 9 is preferably provided, as I find that an advantav at condition in Fig. 3, and comprises a substan- I l tially rectangular piece illof silk or similar material of soft texture, which may be either elastic or non-elastic. To the longitudinal edges of the element are secured tapes ILand I2 carrying the male elements of the snapfastener structure, no additional tapes, except the thin fastener tapes being used. The lateral edges of the crotch element may be finished as at I 3.

The crotch element is secured to the girdle by engaging the snap fastener elements of one of the sets of tapes 6 and 'I and the elements of the other longitudinal tapes with the other set of tapes 6 and 1, so that the crotch element is secured in position upon the girdle in the manner indicated in Fig. 1, forming folds constituting thigh-embracing portions which, with the thighembracing portions of the girdle, forma complete trunk member or pantie. It is to be noted that the function of the girdle in confining the body is not interfered with in 39 any way by the removable crotch element, such crotch piece, I eliminate the creation of a weak point, namely that constituting the point of juncture of the crotch element with the material of the garment. If the crotch element were not secured to the surface of a 4complete garment, but were secured to a slit section, as in prior art structures, the slitting of the garment would permit expansion of the girdle to an unusual degree. The weakest point of the garment would therefore Vbe on the detachable section, and snap fasteners would tend to, and frequently do, break off during the attachment or detachment of the crotch piece from the garment. In my novel structure, the strain is at all times upon the girdle material, the elastic character of which provides for yielding resistance to the strain, and has no slit to present an unsightly. appearance through a dress at any time.

ing my invention, in which the garment has this continuous lower edge, is that the presence of the crotch member is not evident even through the sheerest material or the most tight fitting 65 one, because the crotch element is secured upon the inner side of the garment, and there are no thick edge portions, selvages, etc., likely to form protuberances to interfere with the smooth exte- An important feature of the structure embodyt rior of the garment. The absence of such thickened edge portions likewise insures comfort to the wearer in that no element is present of'a nature to cause cutting or binding.

The removal of the crotch element from the girdle is greatly facilitated by providing the female snap-fastener elements upon the garment and the male elements upon the crotch element. A. less pull will suilice to detach the crotch ele- 'ment from the girdle, and therefore a smaller strain is placed upon the material thereof in effecting such detachment.

The girdle, as'has been mentioned, may be worn with or without the crotch element, without any interference with the confining functions of the girdle.

As the crotch element may be readily removed from the garment while the latter is in place upon the body of the wearer, thisfeature is conducive to. the wearers comfort when she finds it necessary to remove a soiled crotch element withoutv having another, new or laundered, to secure in its place. Discriminating women will find this feature particularly gratifying after strenuous activity, for instance in the realm of sports, when they can merely detach the crotch element from the girdle if the crotch element has become soiled from excessive perspiration, and yet retain a youthful body contour resulting from the confim'ng qualities of the girdle.

When so worn, the girdle is free lfrom irritating projections, such freedom being secured by placing the male snap-fastener elements upon the crotch element, so that these projecting elements are removed from the garment with the crotch element. Y

My present application is led in part as a continuation of my co-pending application, Serial No. 64,675, filed February 19, 1936.

`I claim:

A womans garment comprising a body-encircling and confining member of elastic material having a continuous crotchless lower peripheral edge; and a separately formed crotch element having peripheral snap-fastener components attached thereto; said first-named member having exclusively interiorly attached and concealed coniplemental snap-fastener components, whereby said crotch element may be. secured in readily attachable-detachable crotch-forming position Within said encircling member, and said lastnamed fastener components being secured to the lowermost central region of each of the front and rear portions of the garment by two pairs of tapes stitched exclusively within and to the inner surface of said lower margins of the encircling member, each pair of tapes comprising two converging strips running from two spaced-apart points at the lower edge of the garment to a single point of juncture of the strips in a pair, said tapes and fasteners thereto secured being at all times confined within the lower margin of the body member both when said crotch element is present and when it is absent, said elastic body-encircling member presenting an unbroken lower margin when used as a girdle without said crotch element.

MARGARET C. BAATZ. 

